The Tree and the Band-Aid
by JengaBlocks
Summary: Based upon an episode of Ranma 1/2; Ash experiences weird sensations after Misty uses a magic band-aid on his nose (Yes, A Magic Band-Aid). Little does she and Ash know, that this particular Band-Aid shall change their lives forever. Not the best summary, but hey! Poke-Shipping and AAML. Gotta love it!


**The Tree and the Band-Aid:**

My first actual upload to this site. I had this stored on my PC for quite a while and I thought I would share it with you lovely people. This fiction is based upon an episode of Ranma ½ ('Ranma the Lady Killer', If you are wondering), which I felt would work great if it made a transition into the world of Pokemon. I wrote this back when I was a bit of Poke-Shipper and to tell you lads the truth; I am kind of getting back into it again. Should be interesting. Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or Ranma ½. They belong to their respective owners.

To give you an idea of the ages of each major character:

Ash: 17

Misty: 17

Brock: 20

Tracey: 19

Hope you enjoy this Fiction. One a side note: Bold/Italics indicate the characters thoughts. They are also identifiable by '' instead of the normal speech marks. But enough talk; let's get started.

**The Tree and the Band-Aid:**

"Ash Ketchum! You get back here right now!" The redhead's screams echoed through the thick forest as she bolted after the wanna-be Pokemon master.

"Never!" The 17 year old looked over his shoulder, still running forward. "If you want your bag back, then you're going to have to apologize first!" A smirk was painted across his face as he stared back at his best friend, _'She is so cute when she's angry,'_ He thought to himself, _'Wait! Where did that thought come from?' _The dense teen had been experiencing these 'alien' thoughts for the past few weeks now.

Ash's thoughts were interrupted by the cries of his predator, "Apologize?!" Misty's eyes widened in shock, "For what? You do eat like a Pig!" She continued her pursuit, maintaining eye contact with his brown eyes at all times. "I hope you realize that you are in for one Hell of a beating when I get my hands on you!" Her voice erupted through gritted teeth, _'Though, I wouldn't dare harm those eyes…'_ The redhead, despite her little daydream, continued to give chase to the childish teen.

Ash ignored her and continued to run. He had Misty's bag flung over his shoulder, an act of childish revenge after Misty described him as a 'little piggy' while the group were eating lunch. He reached a small clearing; almost every direction was open for his feet with a large Oak tree standing in front of him. _'I don't want to stray too far, Brock's working on Dinner so, I don't want to miss it…' _He looked around frantically for a place to hide from the fast approaching Redhead. Ash pondered his options carefully; the Oak tree was his decision. _'Perfect…' _A small smile crept across Ash's face as he began to climb the large trunk, struggling to keep the bag on his shoulder has he ascended the great Oak.

Back at the groups Base Camp:

Back at the Base camp, Brock was busy preparing the groups dinner in the absence of Ash and Misty. The small mouse Pokemon Pikachu, was by his side aiding with the Ketchup, or helping himself to it while Tracey sat next to the fire on one of the two logs the group managed to haul into position. He held his sketchpad in hand, making a detailed and accurate drawing of Pikachu cooking wearing a small chef's hat. _'Pikachu's are quite common' _Tracey thought to himself_ 'but ones in chef hats? That's a different story…'_

Brock paused his preparations, "Where did those two run off to?" He looked over at the sketch artist, who just responded with a simple shrug of the shoulders. "Why did Ash run off with Misty's bag anyway? Asides from a savage beating, he wouldn't gain much from it." He turned to Pikachu, "Do you have any idea buddy?"

The small Mouse stared at him, Ketchup bottle in hand, "Pika", He shook his head. Not even he knew why Ash did it, perhaps it was just because he was still incredibly childish.

"One things for sure" Tracey chipped in, "When Misty finds him, Ash is going to need a lot of these" He held up a small box of Band-Aids.

"When did you get those?" Questioned Brock.

"I've had these for a while," replied the Sketch Artist. "The salesman told me they were cursed or something like that, Crazy right?" He scoffed at the idea.

"You never know though," Brock began, "There's some pretty weird stuff in this world, I wouldn't totally rule out the idea that those things are cursed"

"True" Tracey nodded, "But come on, Magic Band-Aids? It does seem a little far-fetched"

Back to the Cat and Mouse:

Misty reached the clearing, Her feet skidded to a halt as she stopped in front of a large Oak tree. The redhead scanned the foliage for Ash, like a Lion looking around for her prey, Mallet at the ready.

"He wouldn't have gone too far" She said to herself, "He would never miss a chance to eat…" _'Though I have been wrong before…'_

Misty knew her friend all too well, he would eventually show himself. She slumped down on the pathway, causing dust to kick up around her. _'It's not like him just to run off like that, let along with my bag…' _She tried to piece together Ash's antics in her mind, _'He would never do something as immature as this just to get revenge for a few words….'_

Up in the giant Oak tree, Ash sat on the thickest branch he could climb to. He remained quite proud of his accomplishments as he gazed across the horizon. The sun setting caused the Sky to turn a deep shade of Orange, _'Kinda reminds me of her hair…' _He slapped himself mentally at the thought, _'What the Hell Ash! Keep it together boy!' _

Stunned by the sudden turn of his thoughts, he looked away from the orange sky and tried to find something else to entertain him while he waited. Looking down, he saw the familiar redhead, slumped on the ground near the base of the Oak Tree. _'Speak of the Devil…' _He stared down at his Best friend; he could tell that she was in 'intense thinking mode'.

'_She's so cute when she's in deep thought… Just like when she's annoyed…' _There it was again, the sudden tangent of weird thoughts towards his female best friend.

Deciding to keep up his silly antics, Ash looked around for something light to throw at his friend. _'A small twig or something to grab her attention…' _He spied the perfect piece if bark, lying on a larger branch in front of him.

He forced his torso forward, keeping his right arm outstretched, attempting to reach the bark. He nearly had it, his fingers brushed the end of the wood, but before he could grab it, his head collided with a larger branch above the one he was situated on, causing his hat to be knocked off his head. "Damn it" He hissed to himself, he frantically attempted to grab his hat before it landed on the floor, his fingers brushed the brim of the cap before he lost his balance and was sent hurtling downwards.

Misty was still on the slumped on the road, unaware of the actions happening above her. One thing she did know however was that Ash would return shortly, he would not miss Brock's dinner for anything.

'_Maybe he's already back at the camp…' _She began to debate in her mind whether she should leave and return to the sketch artist and the pokemon breeder, or if she should stay and wait for the trainer. An all too familiar cap, gently fluttering down in front of her, interrupted her internal debates; it was Ash's cap. But before she could react, Ash landed on the ground; face down with a large thud. Misty's bag was still draped over his shoulder as he lay there.

Surprised by the event that had just unfolded before her, Misty stared at Ash for a moment, she didn't know whether to be surprised, confused or angry with him. But decided to instead just snap at him,

"So that's where you were!" Her voice pierced the air, "I'm going to give you 10 seconds to give me a good reason as to why I should not beat the Hell out of you!" She turned her solemn nose up to the sky and waited for his reply.

Ash lay face down in the dirt. His entire body was in pain, but he knew that he hadn't broken anything; He would know that if it were the case.

'_That did not go to plan at all…' _

He just wanted to go back to the base camp, regretting his previous antics. But of course to do that, he would have to get past the devil in female form herself. He heard Misty shouting about giving her a good reason, or something along those lines anyway, causing him to only want to keep his face in the dirt a little while longer.

Misty was irritated by the lack of response from the boy. The most he could do was a small grunt, muffled by the ground beneath his face. This caused Misty to turn to him,

"Ash?" She questioned the teen, her voice filled with some sort of strange combination of frustration and worry. Ash only managed a slightly longer grunt in response to this.

"Ash?" She stared at him, placing her hand on his shoulder and shaking him gently.

"Ash? Are you okay?" She was now genuinely worried about him. She persisted to shake the shoulder of the trainer.

Ash stirred, he eyes blinked open, trying to remove the dust that had collected in them from his collision on the floor. He moved his arms forward and pushed his torso up. He lifted his head up, allowing his eyes to meet the worried gaze of his friend, "The tree did it for you" Ash said, grinning.

Misty's worried face morphed into a confused expression, "What are you talking about Ash?" One of her eyebrows rose, questioning his previous statement.

"You asked me to give you a good reason as to why you shouldn't attack me, so I did." Ash replied, his face still grinning.

His smile made Misty relax. _'He was Okay after all…' _She removed her hand from his shoulder, "Glad to see you're still in one piece…" She returned the smile, before looking down from his Brown eyes and to his nose, noticing the rather large and relatively deep cut. "Ash! Your Nose!" She pointed at the large wound. The black haired teen raised his hand to his nose, locating the area of the wound.

"Wow. I didn't even notice this before" He sounded genuinely surprised at the discovery, "Must be because I'm so tough" His voice was filled with a smug, but joking tone.

"Or your just too oblivious to notice the obvious" Misty retorted in a joking manner, _'That's not the only thing I wish you would notice…' _

The two simply laughed at the redheads joke before she continued, "Either way, we need to get a Band-Aid on that" She pushed herself up to her feet as she said this, "Can you walk?" She looked down, querying her crush.

"I think so, Ash heaved his body up to the point where he was on one knee. Before he could precede any further, he was greeted by Misty's out-stretched palm, proffering to aid him up. He placed his gloved hand into her pale hand and she gently pulled him up. Both teens saw a blush creep onto their faces, causing them to look away from each other. Ash got onto his feet; he used his free hand to brush the dust off his clothes and then to grab his cap.

"Thanks for the help Mist" He turned back to her, meeting her eyes once more and releasing her hand from his.

"You're welcome Ashy boy" Misty responded, grinning back at him. _'I thought he would of forgotten about my hand…'_

"Don't call me that!" The moment was broken with the cries from Ash. "I hate that nickname…" He stuck he bottom lip out to act offended. "My name is Ash, no need for silly variations."

"D'awwwwww, does Ashy hate it when I call him that?" Misty mocked, "I could call you Ashton instead, much more sophisticated."

"No, No! Ashy is fine" The boy waved his hands in front of him defensively, "But I would just prefer Ash, it's just normal for me"

"Okay, whatever you say," Misty turned back to the pathway, "We should get back before it gets too dark to see" Suggested the redhead. "I don't want to end up in the forest, over night with bugs everywhere!" She shuddered at the thought.

"Hah, just like when we were in Viridian Forest for the first time!" Ash remembered those times fondly. "Caught my first pokemon there… My first two in fact!"

"That and back then, you owed me a new Bike!" Misty quickly threw in her statement before Ash could talk anymore about his pokemon. "But then again, if you never took it in the first place, then we wouldn't be friends now" _'Though, I wish we were more than that sometimes…'_

Ash nodded in agreement, acknowledging her statement. "We should really get going, otherwise we will have to face all the creepy things"

The two made their way back to the base camp, hoping to reach it before it got pitch black.

Back at the groups Base Camp:

The sun had left the sky. The moon was beginning its ascent into the blackness, this caught the eye of the sketch artist, "I wonder what's taking them so long?" His voice was calm, but still worried. He stared at the pathway where the Enthusiastic boy and the fiery girl took off. "I mean, the moons up in the sky now, you don't think something may have happened to them?" He turned to the cook.

"I'm sure they are fine, they are capable of handling themselves," replied Brock. "Perhaps the two needed some time alone or something"

Tracey processed what Brock had just said, "If I'm thinking the same a you, then it would be bliss. No more squabbles between them!" He laughed, "It would be sweet relief for our ears!"

Brock laughed in agreement, "That could be plausible you know, it would explain a lot about them"

"Don't get me to excited about it Brock, It might not be the case" Tracey ended their little fantasy, "But it would be nice."

During this conversation, Pikachu was locating more Ketchup for his ravenous consumption. He had over-heard the talk between Brock and Tracey and could only agree; it would be bliss.

Tracey glanced back over to the dusty pathway, before noticing two familiar hairstyles come into view. The black, spiky hair and the side ponytail. "Speak of the Devil," He said.

"Told you they would be back" Brock replied, before resuming his cooking.

Back to the Pair:

"But why did you take my bag?" Misty wanted an answer. _'There will be no escape Ashy boy…'_

Ash let out a noticeable sigh, _'Why wont she stop nagging about that? I don't even know why! Was it because I wanted to be alone with her?'_

"ASH! Don't you ignore me now!" Misty was getting impatient with his quietness, "You can tell me anything Ashy boy!"

'_Perfect conversation changer…' _Thought Ash, "Stop calling me that!" He wailed, "My name is Ash! A-S-H!" He tried to draw his point out for as long as possible to keep Misty from asking even more questions.

"You are so cute when you're cross" Misty giggled at her words, before realising just what she had said. _'Damn it! Why did I say that?!' _

"I'm what? Did you just call me cute?" Ash raised one eyebrow, interrogating his friend. _'What a random thing to say in the middle of a conversation… Still, Can't really complain.'_

Misty's face was engulfed in a heavy blush as she turned her face away, "I, Uh…" Her voice trailed off, trying hard not to spew out anymore-personal statements.

The awkward moment was defused by a small bundle of yellow fur, colliding with Ash's face. This caused him to stagger back a bit, but he didn't mind, He knew who it was. "Well hello to you to buddy" Ash smiled back at Pikachu, now in his arms. "Did you miss me?"

"Pi" The mouse Pokemon nodded, before climbing onto his trainer/friends shoulder. Misty blew a quite sigh of relief,

'_I owe Pikachu one'_ She thought, as the trio made their way to the base camp, which was now with in eyesight.

Brock looked up from his cooking, "Hey you two!" He greeted his friends with a simple raise of his right hand, before he resumed his cooking.

"Hey Brock" The pair of Ash and Misty said in unison.

"So" Tracey began, "Where did you two run off to?" He was ready to interrogate the two of them.

Ash pretended not to hear him as he continued to talk to Pikachu, a slight blush spread across his face. Thankfully, Misty stepped in, "Ash took my bag, so I needed to get it back" She to played host to a small blush on her cheeks, knowing what Tracey was implying.

Tracey raised his open hands to eye level; "Whatever you two say" He chuckled. He turned his attention to Ash, noticing the cut that still sat on his nose, "Say Ash, what happened to your nose?" Tracey pointed directly towards the wound on Ash's nose.

"Oh that?" Ash turned away from Pikachu to face the sketch artist, "I bravely fought off team rocket and saved the day again!" His voice tone was obviously saying that he was joking, but that still didn't stop him from raising his head into the air and puffing his chest out into a Heroic stance.

Misty smirked, "I don't think hiding up a tree, only to fall out of it counts a bravery" _'But why did you do it in the first place…'_

Ash glared at Misty, _'Kill-Joy…'_ But before he could open his mouth to retaliate, Misty cut him off, "Tracey? Do we have any Band-Aids? We kinda need them for Ash's nose"

"As a matter of fact, we do" Tracey began to rummage around in his bag, "Ah Ha!" He exclaimed, "Here you go" He handed Misty a small box of Band-Aids, "I figured you would need some after Ash's antics"

"Mother Nature did most of the work for me, but yes, you figured right" Misty took the box from Tracey.

"Be careful though, apparently they are magic bandages!" He waved his hands in front of his face to emphasis his point.

The redhead scoffed at the idea, "Yes, I bet they are Tracey!" She replied sarcastically. She turned to Ash, "Right then" She began, "Get your butt in motion!"

Ash turned away from Pikachu to address Misty's statement, "What?"

"We need to get to the river, can't put a band-aid on that cut without cleaning it properly and only fresh water will do the trick!" responded Misty. Before Ash could object, the redhead was forcefully moving him towards the near-by lake. "It's not like you have any say in the matter anyway!" Misty stated.

The riverbank was still within eye view of the campsite, but it was nearly impossible to make out small talk between the two areas. Pikachu had long left the pair in search of more ketchup for his consumption.

Misty situated herself on the waters edge, crouching down with a cotton pad in hand. Ash flopped down besides her, knowing that he would have to endure the cleansing. "Right Hold still and let Nurse Misty clean that cut" She had soaked a cotton pad slightly, careful not to get any mud into it. "You're going to enjoy this"

'_Jeez, she sounds practically evil' _Ash thought to him, _'still, it's sweet of her to help me I guess…' _A soft hand, gently pulling his face closer, interrupted his thoughts.

"Hold still Ash, I need to see what I'm doing"

"Whatever you say Nurse" Ash replied, Playing along with her little game earlier. The two faces were merely inches apart. Misty's face hovered over his forehead, his eyes carefully watching her hands movements. Ash's face remained perfectly still. He was quite content with looking into the lake. _'It's quite calm really…' _He allowed his mind to wonder off into a dream, _'the cool air, the gentle breeze, the moon… All together in a single pla-'_

"OW!" His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden burst of pain in his nose, "Easy there, that hurt" Ash looked up to meet Misty's Aqua eyes.

"Oh quit complaining you big baby, I'm done with the cleaning anyway" Misty replied.

She finished up cleaning the skin around the cut, gently brushing away any remnants of blood. She placed the stained pad down next to her and reached for the box of Band-Aids. Ash continued to stare at her

"Thanks for helping out Mist" He knew that she deserved some sort of compliment.

The redhead turned back to Ash, "Anytime" She smiled back at him. She pulled the box in front of her, reaching into the package and whipping out a Band-Aid.

"Oh come on Mist!" Ash whined, "A Pink one?"

"Ash, it's a Band-Aid, it won't kill you" Misty replied, "Besides, what colour would you prefer?" Ash spent a few seconds pondering before replying, "Dark Orange or Aqua would be good".

Misty paused for a second, "Why those colours?" She queried.

Ash shrugged, "I guess it's because they are my favourite colours". _'Same colour as Misty's hair and eyes come to think of it…'_

"Well, I guess I could change the colour" Misty smirked, she had other plans. She pretended to put the Pink Band-Aid back into the box and pull out a new one. She had Ash fooled momentarily, allowing her the perfect opportunity to lunge forward and slap the Band-Aid onto the open wound.

"Jeez Mist!" He exclaimed, rubbing his nose, "That was un-called for!" The Band-Aid caused irritation on Ash's nose, forcing him to rub it even more. The Band-Aid glowed a dark Pink.

"Well then you should have been on your guard!" Retorted Misty, "It's not my fault that you were not anticipating my attacks" She continued to smile, despite knowing that Ash would attempt to argue back.

"No, You're right"

'_WHAT!'_ Misty's mind practically shrieked, any psychic pokemon around would have probably gotten a headache from it. She turned to face Ash, eyes widened in shock, "W-What did you say?"

"I said you're right" Replied Ash, "I should have been more aware" Ash's face beamed. "And I guess Pinks not the worse colour…"

Misty remained genuinely shocked. Never had Ash decided to back down from an argument like this before. "Ok buddy, who are you and what did you do with the real Ash?" Misty asked accusingly. _'There is no way this is the real Ash…'_

"You're looking at the real Ash, the one and only Pokemon Master!" Ash replied.

'_Okay, it's the real Ash…' _Misty backed down from her mini interrogation.

The two sat there, by the waters edge, gazing out into the peaceful water. _'Perhaps Ash has finally matured, Maybe he has finally learnt to accept his mistakes…' _Misty fell into a slight daydream, only to be interrupted by Ash.

"Mist? Are you okay?"

Misty snapped back into reality, "Yeah Ash, I'm fine, why do you ask?" She turned to face him. Yet again, her Aqua eyes met his Brown eyes.

"Because you look like you are worried about something" Ash pushed himself up from his laid back position, looking genuinely interested in Misty's thoughts. "I mean, when you are deeply thinking about something, you seem to end up staring off into space randomly. That, and you look really cute while doing it" Ash smiled as he added to his previous response.

"Do I really do that? I just stare off into Spa- Wait!" Misty froze in position, "What did you say?"

"About how you stare off into space randomly when you are thinking deeply about something?" Ash replied.

"No, No" Misty shook her head, "After that."

"About how you look cute when you do it?"

After hearing those words, Misty was stunned. _'Did he just… No, There's no chance… But he does seem serious….'_

"Cute?" She clarified

"Yes" Ash's reply was short and sweet, "Looks even better in the Moonlight," He quickly added.

'_He's telling the truth….' _Misty remained shocked.

'_Did Ash Ketchum, the dense boy from Pallet, the one dimensional Lad, the Man who wouldn't know romance if it kicked him in the butt, Just call me Cute?'_

**Chapter 1: Fin**

Probably could have found a much better ending for this part of the story if I actually put a bit more time behind reviving it, But hey, It could of just been abrupt and cut off with nothing. If you enjoyed this, feel free to R&R.

I really don't have any clue if I will do a chapter 2, and even if I did, I have no idea when I would complete it or upload it.

Anyway, Thanks for reading!

-Jenga.


End file.
